AMD is set to revolutionize ray tracing, particularly path tracing, in modern games with a brand-new rendering approach. This innovation comes in the form of a dedicated hardware block integrated into its next-generation AMD Radeon gaming GPUs. Developed in close collaboration with Sony, this new ray tracing hardware, dubbed the Radiance Core, promises to elevate lighting performance in the latest titles to an unprecedented level.
Historically, AMD’s GPUs have faced challenges in matching Nvidia’s advanced Blackwell chips when it comes to path tracing, a disparity highlighted in recent benchmarks. However, AMD is determined to bridge this performance gap with the Radiance Core, which strategically shifts a vital part of the ray tracing pipeline to a specialized hardware unit.
“We’ve dedicated the past two years to fundamentally rethinking the entire path tracing pipeline, from the very core hardware to the software,” revealed Jack Huynh, AMD’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Computing and Graphics Group. During a joint announcement with Sony PS5 lead architect Mark Cerny, presented in the video below, Huynh introduced the Radiance Core as “a new dedicated hardware block designed for unified light transport.”
Cerny elaborated on the core’s transformative impact, explaining that it moves all ray traversal calculations directly into hardware. This is a significant departure from AMD’s previous methods, which heavily relied on the CPU and general GPU shader cores for such demanding tasks. “To execute ray tracing effectively today, a shader program traditionally has to balance two vastly different responsibilities,” Cerny clarified.
He continued, outlining these responsibilities: “One involves ray traversal – meticulously searching through intricate data structures to pinpoint exactly where the millions of rays being cast interact with the scene’s millions of geometric triangles. Concurrently, when intersections occur, that same shader program must also perform its regular duties of shading the scene, applying textures, and processing lighting information.”
The Radiance Core, however, streamlines this process by independently handling the ray traversal calculations. Huynh pointed out that this innovation “frees up the CPU for geometry and simulation, allowing the GPU to concentrate on its strengths: shading and lighting.” Cerny emphasized that this not only delivers “a significant speed boost” due to the hardware-level traversal logic but also benefits from the Radiance Core operating completely independently from the GPU’s standard shader cores.
Cerny further hinted at “other features in the works” aimed at enhancing ray tracing performance, including the development of “flexible and efficient data structures for the geometry being ray traced.” While the full impact of this new GPU hardware block on PC gaming performance, particularly in terms of challenging or surpassing Nvidia in path tracing, remains to be seen (as the technology won’t appear on PC immediately), AMD’s dedication, coupled with advancements like FSR Redstone, signals a strong effort to close remaining performance disparities.
If you’re considering a GPU upgrade now, exploring the options for the best graphics card is a great idea. While AMD’s new Radiance Core-equipped cards are on the horizon, current AMD graphics cards still offer excellent performance for their price point, even if you want to experiment with ray tracing in the latest games.
We’re keen to hear your thoughts on AMD’s new direction and the future of path tracing in games. Share your opinions and join the conversation!